LOS ANGELES – Carolyn Marie Jones, 57, of Corona, is back behind bars after a brazenly similar fraud scheme landed her a 20-month federal prison sentence Monday. The career con artist barely had time to adjust to life outside prison before allegedly resuming her pattern of deception, this time leveraging the names of A-list celebrities to bilk an investor out of $13,000.
The latest sentence comes just after Jones completed a lengthy 79-month stretch for a $15 million bank fraud and bankruptcy scheme. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald made it clear this was Jones’s last chance, warning her that any further violations would result in the “harshest sentence” allowable by law. Jones admitted to violating the terms of her supervised release by defrauding a victim through a web of lies and omissions.
According to court documents, Jones presented herself as a denim empire in the making, claiming her company, DDI (also known as Diamond Decisions, Inc.), enjoyed the support of a veritable who’s who of celebrity endorsements. She name-dropped the Kardashian and Jenner families, Taylor Swift, Floyd Mayweather, Chrissy Teigen, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith, even falsely asserting that LeBron James had offered a staggering $500,000 for equity in her company. Her brands, Privacywear and PRVCY Premium, were built on a foundation of fabrications.
In a particularly callous move, prosecutors revealed that Jones exploited the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. She allegedly used the tragedy to bolster her image and falsely claimed to be offering condolences to the Bryant family, even suggesting that Bryant had envisioned his daughters as the faces of her denim line. This exploitation of grief was detailed in a sentencing memorandum, highlighting the depth of Jones’s manipulative tactics.
Beyond the celebrity-fueled fraud, Jones also admitted to violating her release terms by concealing a line of credit and a bank account, and by engaging in business activities without the required approval from her probation officer. This isn’t the first time Judge Fitzgerald has dealt with Jones’s dishonesty. He previously labeled her “truly a greedy, awful person” when sentencing her to 79 months in 2015 for the prior fraud schemes, which involved bank loans and bankruptcy fraud. That earlier case resulted in losses of $15,124,100 to Union Bank and numerous investors.
The investigation was a joint effort by IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruth C. Pinkel and Lindsey Greer Dotson handling the prosecution. Jones will remain on supervised release for 40 months after completing her latest prison sentence. Authorities have not indicated whether they are investigating potential additional victims of Jones’s ongoing schemes.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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